Horrific moment: An elderly woman is brutally attacked in an unprovoked attack in crime-ridden Oakland

By Alexa Cimino for Dailymail.Com

02:50 07 July 2024, updated 02:50 07 July 2024

An elderly woman was brutally attacked without provocation in Oakland – just days after the city’s mayor announced a decline in crime.

In a shocking video circulating on social media, the victim can be seen walking down the street behind another passerby, carrying a bag and luggage next to him.

The unidentified woman looks up at a man wearing a black “Wild Boyz” zip-up hoodie, white shirt and black pants before she is brutally struck on the head and falls to the ground.

After hitting the elderly woman, the madman then hits the passerby in front of her, who was also carrying the suitcase.

While the suspect stole one of the elderly lady’s bags and a passerby’s suitcase, four men who had observed the altercation followed him.

The identities of the victims and the suspect have yet to be released.

Just days earlier, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, 38, had boasted that crime had declined in his city, which had been plagued by violence in recent years.

“Oakland is seeing positive results from new public safety strategies,” the mayor said, claiming it is a “proven, data-driven strategy that focuses violence prevention by law enforcement and community resources on individuals in Oakland who are most at risk of becoming involved in violence.”

Mayor Thao said that since the launch of Operation Ceasefire, “violent crime and overall crime have declined significantly and sustainably.”

The mayor was unable to provide any figures to explain the extent to which crime had decreased to any significant extent.

Thao, 38, is facing a recall election less than two years after taking office as mayor. A vote on the measure that could lead to her being ousted from office is scheduled for November.

Rising crime and budget problems have been a challenge for Thao since she took office in January 2023 after a term on the Oakland City Council.

Oakland voters angry about rising crime in the city in the Bay Area.

They claim Thao’s progressive, soft-on-crime policies have emboldened criminals and driven away businesses. It’s a familiar story in many progressive, Democratic cities across the country.

Mayor Thao had previously denounced the rise in crime, saying that the increase had already begun in 2019, before she took office.

But it is lax bail reform and the failure to prosecute even minor offenses that have led to Oakland’s progressive decline.

In the case of Oakland, the city has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, including murders, which rose from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year.

In 2023, overall crime increased by 18 percent, with property crime increasing by 17 percent and violent crime increasing by 21 percent.

And in the first four months of 2024, the number of burglaries increased by 118 percent compared to the same period last year.

Shockingly, in 2023, one car was stolen for every 30 residents.

Due to this situation, several large corporations have withdrawn from the city, fearing for the safety of their employees and fearing devastating shoplifting incidents.

The progressive Democratic lawmaker is the first mayor in the city’s history to run for re-election after a campaign to remove her from office collected more than 40,000 signatures.

Public support for Thao is waning, and Oakland’s former police chief LeRonne Armstrong is calling for her to resign.

“The real challenge is not only the absence of the mayor, but the absence of other city leaders stepping in at this moment to make sure that residents and people in the city of Oakland know that there is leadership in place that is working to solve some of these problems,” said LeRonne Armstrong, a former police chief who was fired by Thao.

Last month, federal authorities raided her home. Thao responded defiantly and angrily, insisting that she had done nothing wrong and had no plans to resign from office.

Mayor Sheng Thao read a prepared statement and did not answer questions. Four days earlier, FBI agents had carried boxes out of the house she shares with her son and partner as part of their investigation. Two other houses belonging to another family were also searched as part of the investigation.

Retired judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who is leading the recall campaign, is calling on Thao to resign.

“She should do the honorable thing and resign. The FBI raid is going to be a distraction no matter how you look at it. Even if she is not charged, it will be a distraction as she tries to lead this investigation and run a city,” Harbin-Forte said.